JOHANNESBURG — Chimpanzees at a sanctuary for the animals in eastern South Africa pulled an American working there into their enclosure, where they severely bit him and dragged him nearly a kilometer (half mile), according to a parademic official and local media reports.

The man, described as a ranger, was leading a tour group at the Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee Eden Thursday when two chimpanzees grabbed his feet and pulled him under a fence into their enclosure, Jeffrey Wicks of the Netcare911 medical emergency services company in a statement obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.

Additional Photos

In this photo taken Feb. 1, 2011, chimpanzees sit in an enclosure at the Chimp Eden rehabilitation center, near Nelspruit, South Africa. A paramedic official says chimpanzees at a sanctuary for the animals in eastern South Africa bit and dragged a man at the reserve, badly injuring him. In a statement, Jeffrey Wicks of the Netcare911 medical emergency services company said the man he described as a ranger was leading a tour group at the Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee Eden Thursday June 28, 2012 when two chimpanzees grabbed his feet and pulled him under a fence into their enclosure. The international institute founded by primatologist Jane Goodall opened the sanctuary in 2005. It is a home to chimpanzees rescued from further north in Africa, where they are hunted for their meat of held captive as pets. (AP Photo/Erin Conway-Smith) AP

The man had “multiple and severe bite wounds” and was dragged nearly a kilometer by the chimpanzees, Wicks said.

Beeld, a South African newspaper, reported Friday that the man was an American researcher who was giving tourists a lecture at the time of the attack. The tourists were escorted to safety by staff members as the chimpanzees dragged the man out of their enclosure, Beeld reported. The sanctuary’s director fired into the air to scare the chimps away from the man, and then chased the animals back into their enclosure. Beeld reported the man lost part of an ear and parts of his fingers.

The Associated Press did not immediately get responses to phone calls and an email seeking comment from officials at the institute and its sanctuary.

The international institute founded by renowned primatologist Jane Goodall opened the sanctuary in 2006. It is a home to chimpanzees, which are not native to South Africa, rescued from further north in Africa. Some of the chimpanzees at the sanctuary lost their parents to poachers in countries where they are hunted for their meat, and others were held in captivity in cruel conditions as little more than roadside attractions.

In the United States this week, lawyers for a Connecticut woman severely disfigured in 2009 when she was attacked by a friend’s pet chimpanzee, filed papers accusing state officials of failing to seize the animal before the mauling despite a staff member’s warning that it was dangerous.

Related Stories